The Bluetooth specification provides a Cordless Telephony Profile (CTP) by which cellular terminals may access fixed network telephony services over a short-range Bluetooth communication link with a base station. The CTP protocol is defined by, for example, the Specification of the Bluetooth System, Cordless Telephony Profile, Volume 2, Part K:3, Version 1.1, Feb. 22, 2001. The CTP protocol enables a cellular terminal to make calls via a base station, to make direct intercom calls with another cellular terminal, and to access supplementary services that are provided by an external network that is connected to the base station.
Because Bluetooth communication links are intended to operate over relatively short-ranges, high power transmitters (e.g., over +15 dBm) and high sensitivity receivers (−90 dBm) may be needed in the cellular terminal and the base station to obtain adequate spatial coverage in a home or office.